By Maddie Augustine
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OMAHA, Neb. (KETV) — Something that started as a way to fill time during the pandemic has turned into a community that an Omaha mother and daughter never expected.
Seven-year-old Preslee Harris and her mother, Thais Diehm, have been posting daily TikToks for years.
“My friends, they usually look at their mom’s phone when she’s scrolling on TikTok, and sometimes they see my TikToks,” Harris said.
Over the last year, the duo’s focus and following on social media have shifted.
In May 2024, Harris was diagnosed with idiopathic juvenile scoliosis — meaning the cause of her scoliosis is unknown.
“She was still in kindergarten, actually. I was taking her to her first-grade physical for the next year, and they start doing the scoliosis test, which is just they’re standing up straight, and they bend over and touch their feet, and they look for, like, a hump on their back,” Diehm said. “And her doctor noticed that and sent us for imaging.”
Harris has no physical restrictions, so Diehm said she never passes up the chance to play soccer or try a new trick on the trampoline.
“She’s able to take her brace off and on. I mean, there’s kids out there that have to have surgery right away, that have to wear their braces 24/7. So, you know, she’s very fortunate in that aspect that hers isn’t as severe,” Diehm said.
Diehm said her daughter is supposed to wear her back brace 16 hours a day, every day. The brace is meant to slow down or help correct the curve in Harris’ spine.
‘Her last appointment in April, she was 21 with brace wearing, which is good because when they braced her, she was at 27, so you know, improvement,” Diehm said.
Despite knowing the brace is helping, Harris said some days are harder than others.
“I still have days that, like, I don’t want to wear it because I want to be like the other people that, like, don’t have scoliosis,” Harris said.
Sharing that vulnerability is what Diehm said stopped people in their doomscroll and caught the attention of millions.
“Seeing, you know, a 6-year-old struggling with brace wearing and having to wear this brace and just like, looks and whispers and just questions, that was really what kind of catapulted that and started that,” Diehm said.
Quickly, the followers, likes and comments came flooding in. Many shared their own scoliosis journey or just offered words of encouragement for Harris.
“We don’t know anyone in our real life that has scoliosis, so her meeting people online also that have scoliosis is really cool,” Diehm said.
“Usually I just see that people without braces and then once I see, like, people that actually have braces, I get, like, kind of happy and I want to wear my brace more,” Harris said.
Inspired by one of their followers, this summer, Diehm wrote their daily affirmations on the front straps of Harris’ brace. Every morning when she puts her brace on, as she tightens the straps, Harris recites the affirmations: “I am strong. I am confident. I am strong.”
“The daily affirmations, we actually started that on our TikTok a long time ago,” Diehm said. “And that was a couple of our known videos were us doing daily affirmations together. So then when when she got her brace, I was like, this is a really cool idea. And we kind of already do that anyway. Why don’t we just go ahead and write on her straps?”
Now, the duo has nearly 390,000 followers and millions of likes on TikTok, fostering and growing a community Diehm said they never expected.
“The overwhelming support and just people like flooding in, supporting her, asking questions, wanting to just be her friend online and make sure she was happy and didn’t know her was really, really sweet,” Diehm said.
It’s also helping make a difference along the way, digitally.
“Maybe a month ago, this mom reached out to me,” Diehm said. “She messaged me on TikTok, and she said that her daughter was — pretty sure she was 9 — she was really, really scared to wear her brace to school, but she watched a bunch of videos of Presley and I that kind of prepped her for school, and she ended wearing it that day. Her watching our videos kind of gave her the courage and confidence to wear it to school, and I thought that was really cool. And that’s kind of what it’s all about. You know, encouraging, motivating other kids and letting them know that they’re not alone and that we’re just like them.”
Harris and Diehm also making an effort to give back to their local community.
In June, through an online fundraiser, Diehm said they raised nearly $3,000. All of the money used to purchase “Higgy Bears,” support stuffed animals wearing back braces, to donate to children with scoliosis.
“We’re going to donate them to the Hanger Clinic, which she goes to,” Diehm said. “And then the children’s hospital.”
Letting others with scoliosis know they’re not alone is what the duo said their TikToks are all about.
“I just wanna say to the people that have a back brace, just be strong,” Harris said.
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